


Nagito in the Ultimate Band

by DatLAG



Series: Nagito and the gang in... [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Thieves, Animal Ears, Flirting, Heist, Hybrids, M/M, Sequel, This is a sequel to the Ultimatus Codex, Tsundere Hinata Hajime, again can't NOT have that, inspire by the Sly Cooper series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26767081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DatLAG/pseuds/DatLAG
Summary: To be an Ultimate Thief, there is one golden rule: One must only steal from other thieves. After all, where is the hope and the enjoyment from stealing the innocent? A policy which band of thieves Nagito, Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi lives by, pursued by very stubborn Inspector Hajime, and accessorily, a very suspicious Constable Kokichi.After defeating Junko Enoshima, the gang was now tasked to find the broken parts of her engine of destruction, stolen by the Remnants, using her last remaining shreds of despair to wreak havoc.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito
Series: Nagito and the gang in... [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941583
Comments: 42
Kudos: 77





	1. Nagito and the gang in: On the Bear's Trail

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to my previous story on this series, so I recommend you read that first, but do what you want folks!  
> Also I didn't really determine how many chapters this is going to have yet, uni has been kicking my ass but i'll try to keep the updates consistent. But I promise nothing as I suck at keeping consistent at anything haha i'm so bad

In the early morning in a town of Egypt, the Ultimate Lucky Student by his thief name was jumping on rooftops.

He spotted the crack in the window on the roof above the targeted building. A few jumps and he was standing next to the fragile glass, he slipped his metallic fingers in the crack, making barely audible noises as the fissure expanded, and he reached to the inside handle of the window. An old trick of his, but always effective.

He let himself fall from the ceiling, once close to the ground, he simply moved his wings and landed on the floor with calm and no trouble.

“This is Awesome Squall! Can you read me Glitch 55!?” Practically yelled Kazuichi over the com.

“Yes I hear you Kazuichi.”

“No you’re not into it! I’m Awesome Squall!”

The moth chuckled. “I am well aware that it is your first time on the field, but you should loosen up a little bit. Staying stiff and anxious never really helped me crawling through vents and slipping through cracks, in my low thieving opinion.” He explained as he threw the cord of his spear on a rafter, the cord circled the piece of wood and the insect took some momentum before jumping and letting himself be balanced upwards by the movement.

He landed on an upper floor which had an open view on the lower one as Kazuichi sighed. “You know what, nevermind… anyways I’ve just reconnected the elevator aaaaand…”

Next to where Nagito landed, along the wall, a green light popped up and elevator doors opened, revealing the pink shark inside, still with his beanie and black jumpsuit, having left his bright yellow one in the van for obvious reasons. Nagito welcomed him with a smile, and showed him the way to the security monitor at the other end of the corridor, just like they planned.

Next to the monitor was a corridor closed by gates, followed by searchlights and laser detectors. The mechanic started fiddling with the commands.

“Let’s see… just gimme a second…” He pulled out some type of modified USB key which he proudly inserted into the monitor’s port. “My buddy right there is gonna make some quick work!”

As he said that, the gates opened. The white haired thief murmured a thank you as he went ahead, Kazuichi staying behind to give tech support.

Turning a few corridors and avoiding a few sleepy guards, the thief attained another window, leading to another part of the building above a garden. Said garden was crawling with imposing looking sentinels. However, there were ropes hanging from one building to another, and that was all he needed.

Strolling above the ground on the strings, he noticed none other than Fuyuhiko on the other side. Nagito had no clue how he got here, but he wasn’t going to complain.

The insect hopped off the rope onto the platform while the short blonde alligator was grabbing one of the gate's bar.

“You handle this so well!” Complimented Nagito.

Fuyuhiko smiled and shrugged. “Compared to what I’ve seen before this is nothin’!” He then put all his weight onto the bar, and a few seconds later, the metal started to bend in a large opening. “There. Now go do your thing.”

“Will do!” Happily claimed the moth as he passed through the gap with some finesse and ran deeper into the building.

From there it was a stroll. He could even slow down in the dimly lit hallways to look at the decorations, paintings, the cloth on the walls with gold seams sewn into it…

Holding his spear behind his back, he calmly walked into the main room, where their target was supposed.

_ “Supposed” _ was the key word, as normally, their objective should be hanging on the wall of the room.

But instead there was nothing.

Over the communication device, Kazuichi started to panic. “That’s- not good- not good at all! Pull back pull back!”

What bad luck.

“Freeze.”

Now what good luck!

Nagito turned around with a smile on his face. “Hello there Hajime. I didn’t expect to see you! What brings you here?”

Upgraded shock pistol megaphone lookalike pointed to the thief, the brunette clicked its mechanism with his thumb, rumbling the gun to life.  _ “You. _ What else?”

The cold tone and the fact he was explicitly serious in his declaration swayed the moth’s heart in the way only Hajime could manage. The insect let out a longing sigh.  _ “Ah~ _ I’m so blessed you would go out of your way for my lowl-”

“Lowly thieving self  _ blablabla.” _ Interrupted the wolf before sighing. “Listen up. I’m putting some  _ goddamn effort _ into pursuing you. I don’t wanna hear that I’m busting my ass for a  _ “lowly thief” _ . So next time you start putting yourself down, next thing I’m putting down is  **you.** ” He punctuated with his stare piercing into his prey and his gun emitting eerie blue sparks.

Blood started pulsing harder on the moth’s face, starting to taint his face in a new shade of red. He could feel himself starting to pant and sweat grossly like every time his emotions got overwhelmed. “How kind! Showing honor to a criminal like me! I am  _ so _ lucky!” He sensed a trickle of drool on the side of his mouth.

Interrupting their touching reunion, a small rat teen, with purple hair, a small frame and white clothing appeared from behind Hajime. “Well damn!" He pointed to Nagito while looking at the bat. "You could’ve told me the guy had a raging hard on for you!” The teen mocked.

The brunette raised an eyebrow. “A… what?” It seemed that the comment flew over his head at Mach 35.

The rat shrugged. “Wow you’re dense! Or a virgin. Probably both.”

“What!?” Yelled Hajime, a blush of embarrassment and rage creeping on his face. Implicitly confirming the small teen’s sayings. Nagito then promptly stored this new bit of information about the wolf officer in his brain. _Just in case._ “Constable Kokichi- I brought you here as a favor to the Queen, I don’t need your stupid comments!”

“Yeah sure.” Brushed Kokichi off. “Anyways, what are we doing here tracking this guy again? Shouldn’t we be focusing on the Remnants?”

This name rang a few bells in Nagito’s head. “Remnants?” He recalled hearing of them in some police reports that he stole when tracking down targets.

“Yep Remnants!” The purple haired officer pointed to the wall. “You were here for the parts right? Well too bad! The Remnants took it before you! Sucks to be you!”

So their objective was taken before they arrived? This would explain why Hajime would be here. He was either investigating, or he predicted other thieves might have tried to come as well, which included the Ultimates: Nagito’s band.

Nagito sighed. “Indeed it sucks. However, bad luck is always followed by good fortune! I consider it meeting the Inspector here, and getting this information! That is enough for me. And now if you’ll excuse me…” He perceived Fuyuhiko slowly creeping in a corner of the room, smoke grenade in hand. “I’ll be taking my leave.”

This was the reptile’s cue to throw the grenade and blind the officers. Nagito hurried to the exit while telling his goodbyes. “Until next time Hajime!”

“Oh no you don’t!” Screamed back the Inspector, blowing back the smoke with a flip of his wings and coat, dashing stylishly (in Nagito's very biased opinion) to follow the thieves.

The white haired lucky thief reached into the com. “Kazuichi, I recommend you run and ready the van.”

On the other side, he could hear the pink shark painting and running. “Way ahead of you man!”

While the two other thieves dodged shock pistol shots, they eventually reached the escape route window, leading to above the streets. Below them was Kazuichi, who managed a dash for the vehicule, driving right beneath them and opening the machine’s roof.

The two thieves jumped off right into the van, the car quickly dashed off into the night. Behind them, they heard Hajime’s howl at his fellow officers.

* * *

Hajime actually managed to follow the Ultimates for quite a long way before he lost them. Nagito could still recall it, fangs cringing against each other in anger in his rearview mirror. He recalled making a comment about how lovely the Inspector was when he was angry, and getting rewarded by weirded out looks from his comrades.

He reminded himself of what that Constable Kokichi said, the “Remnants”. Was it just a mockery, or an intentional clue? Either way, that was their only lead to what they were aiming for.

The Monokuma parts, the remains of Junko Enoshima’s Big Bang Monokuma.

Junko’s despair was more powerful than anything they would’ve anticipated. A thirst for despair that went on for hundreds of years, fueled by the desire to wipe out an entire family line, she replaced her conscience with an AI, and her body became the strongest machine she managed to get her hands on, the said Big Bang Monokuma. The band of thieves destroyed it with a bit of help, or thought they did, but she was right, despair is the only ingredient needed for eternal life, as her dismembered parts lived on.

She was in pieces, and her AI was probably broken beyond repair or recovery, but the threat was still real. The remains of the monster were still out there in the world. Has the Remnants even realized what they have stolen?

Nagito, Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi didn’t know what the future held for them, but they weren’t going to let it be a repeat of the past. They needed to cleanse Junko’s despair at any cost, before the loop of hopelessness turned again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies, I just HAD to make Kokichi a rat. Also be prepared for him to make fun of Hajime and Nagito's nonsensical love story on a **lot** of occasions.  
> Also Nagito finally built up some backbone and started addressing Hajime without the honorifics, congrats my dude.  
> I upgraded Hajime’s pistol design to make it be like the Hacking gun from UDG, I just decided that even if it's not really accurate, it's still neat. At least in my opinion.  
> I hope you anjoy this!


	2. Nagito and the gang in: Snake’s Tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their first heist against the Remants, Nagito stumbles onto an uninvited guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short, again, Sly Cooper levels are mostly pure gameplay that I ain't good enough to write it interestingly, so I skip those parts for the actual plot, sorry... I'll try to make stuff lengthier, and at least there's more plot in this series!  
> I sound desperate aren't I?

They were now on the trail of the first Remnant, surprisingly, they were hiding in none other than a nightclub in Paris.

Ibuki Mioda was part of a popular all girls band, however due to… creative differences, she left the band to start off her own style of music.

It was not well received.

After being shamed by all critics everywhere, she retreated to create a nightclub that served a rendez-vous center for the Remnants. Out of all of them she was the most “innocent”, not participating in the deals themselves, just being aware of it and running the night club.

But more importantly, she possessed Monokuma’s Ears, used as amps inside the building.

Since the machines were used constantly for the music, the plan was to infiltrate the back of the club, cut out the power, and take away the Ears in the dark.

However, as the white haired thief explored the familiar rooftops of Paris, his feelers acted up, and a certain rat appeared in front of him.

Nagito was already getting ready to run, and maybe cancel the operation tonight as there was an unexpected factor (and his crushing disappointment it wasn’t Hajime busting him), but the purple haired officer laughed. “Now now before you freak out hear me out.”

“And what exactly?” The moth replied with a smile just as fake as Kokichi’s.

“I’m not as stuck up as Inspector Hajime. I know how dangerous the Remnants are, I don’t want those suckers going around. _Soooo_ the quicker they go away, the better it is!”

Nagito raised an eyebrow. “So… it takes a thief to catch a thief?”

The rat nodded. “Yep yep! I don’t catch you guys, we work together, and we bring down the Remnants! You want that right?”

The insect considered the offer. “And what can you offer us in exchange for our cooperation?”

“I told you, I hold the police back and give you info! Also…” The teen reached into his pocket. “I happened to have found this _little key_ that just so happens to open Ibuki Mioda’s club’s backdoor!” He dangled the key in front of the thief. “But see, I can’t legally enter without all the paperwork and all that crap. _Althoouuugh_ for a criminal like you, that wouldn’t be any problem!” While his tone and expression was moving all over the place, his rat ears didn't move an inch.

They both stared at each other, trying to gauge each other's looks. Nagito considered the option, he quickly reached a decision.

He was going to exploit this suspicious rat and cut him off as soon as it got too weird. The teen had the look of a backstabber and the tongue of a liar. However, the problem was on what point he could be lying, and when he would be discardable enough to be left behind. Info on the Remnants were not that easy to get, for now they only had the stolen files they managed to get their hands on, but it was just a matter of time before information became scarce.

Nagito simply answered by presenting his hand. Kokichi simply threw the key in the other's palm.

“Good, you’re a smart one!” Chuckled the white clothed rat.

The insect carefully pocketed the key. “I am far from being the smartest, I simply weighted the options against each other.” He looked at the rat with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I just hope you will keep your end of the deal.”

The other scoffed. “Come on, who do you take me for? I live for negotiations.”

“Not something a constable should say.”

“And constables shouldn’t make deals with thieves.” He chuckled. “And you’re one to talk, Mister I-Hit-On-A-Cop.”

While he… couldn’t deny it, there was something he disliked about hearing those words out of this mouth. “What I talk about with Inspector Hajime has nothing to do with this.” He smiled passively-aggressively.

The officer stared back, completely catching the undertone. “Well it kinda does, I do work under him and all.”

The lepidoptera concluded he really disliked where the other was leading the conversation, and that was his cue to leave it. “My apologies, but I will now take my leave. My comrades are probably waiting.”

Kokichi handwaved. “Right right, go do your thief thing, now I gotta try and hold back an angry puppy.”

Again, hearing the Inspector being called a “puppy” from this rat struck a chord in Nagito. The chord that would make a weird wrong sound in an instrument.

He was sure Kokichi was doing it on purpose now. Was it just mockery or manipulation? Either way, the best course of actions to both of those was indifference. So the white haired thief simply walked away, and jumped toward the next objective.

* * *

Clutching the Ears in hand, Nagito and Fuyuhiko sneaked back to their van while Hajime made a very sudden appearance onto the scene. His arrival was just as loud as the night club he was busting in, and frustrated he just missed the Ultimates, just like old times, he took his frustration out on the second best thing, arresting Ibuki Mioda.

The moth and his comrades had a lengthy talk about Kokichi. The other two thieves agreed on Nagito’s views, the rat was suspicious, and a little background research showed he mostly got high in the police rankings through influences and deals. At least him saying he lived for that stuff wasn’t a lie.

The question was, did he hold out those deals until the end, or backstabbed his partners on the last stretch?

They were going to need Kokichi’s influence and information, but he was best kept at arm’s length unless absolutely necessary. His close position to Hajime was another reason to be careful, Nagito wasn’t the only one that wanted the Inspector out of this, he wasn't the only one who got attached. Fuyuhiko knew his stuff about scummy backstabbing, and holding hostages was definitely one of the most effective and painful ways, and the purple haired officer made it _very clear_ he was _widely_ aware of the moth’s affections for the crossbreed.

This deal was terribly risky, crossing a rope above a pit too dark to know what was deep down in it.

But sometimes, thieves needed to perform some balancing acts to attain their objectives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those disappointed Ibuki is a bad guy here, don’t worry, if I write the third part of this series, you’ll get why she’s in that spot.  
> Little trifle of knowledge: I picked the title because in french, the expression “Having a snake’s tongue” means being very sly and rude. And it’s happening in Paris. Also snakes eat rats. Get it? Yeah i ain’t funny  
> For those who played the original Sly 2 you probably noticed I modified the dynamic from "Oh we're going to work great together" to "Oh I hate you already", tbh, I don't have a lot of grounds for doing that, it just felt right and flowed out of my fingers as I wrote it, I hope it's not too jarring!


	3. Nagito and the gang in: Target of The Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito's task was to distract a crowd during a fancy ball. Once again, an unexpected guest showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve been looking forward to writing this chapter ever since I started the Sly Cooper X SDR2. Those who knows this chapter knows **EXACTLY WHY**  
>  Also let me tell you about the most insane coincidence:  
> So I replayed one of my fave games Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (more people need to play this game), and I just realized one of my fave boss from that game, Gibril, has a design of a bat then becomes a wolf as the fight goes on, she’s called a tsundere by her coworker, and she has a somewhat punk design. Damn who does that remind me of hjdhbfvgdsj Even better the rematch against her is just filled with dialogue of her thirsting over mah boi GV, the main character, to walk all over her and kill her ded good. Gosh I wonder who does THAT remind me of. Geezus the coincidence, I unknowingly just broke the character into two and put it in this story with our main duo- HJDBHVFD

In the depth of the Indian Jungle, was where resided their next target. The owner of all of the manpower and money of the Remnants, Angie Yonaga.

She started as an outsider from a far away island, quickly gaining a following through her amazing art and very religious way of thinking, her tiny art deals became huge affairs on the black markets. She now lived in a castle-like estate, where she and her followers praised her god, Atua, a cult where she was the messiah. One would wonder however, was it to convince others or herself?

She organized a lavish ball to showcase her new possession, Monokuma’s Crown. If you saw the reflections of its jewels in the night sky, it was already too late for you. Especially if you were an Ultimate Thief.

She believed sharing the masterpiece with the world will bring Atua’s blessings, but it’s mostly bringing the Ultimates on her trail.

* * *

The suit was quite awkward to move in.

The plan was for Nagito to enter the party incognito, without any of his thief equipment, no mask, no spear, only his communication device, and distract the crowd as Fuyuhiko slipped in from the ceiling and quickly grabbed the crown. The moth wouldn’t have been able to pull it off as the object was way too heavy for him.

As he walked through the corridor to the grand hall, he saw his reflection on a glass box around a statue, probably carved by the owner of the mansion.

There was no trace of his scaley makeshift mask, part of his hair was pulled back, and he was wearing black gloves to hide his prosthetic hand. His black and white suit was slightly too tight around his neck, so he carefully loosened the red bow tie just a bit, so he could breathe more properly. The clothing was really uncomfortable compared to his usual thief outfit or trusted simple shirt and pants.

Kazuichi scolded him over the com for him to hurry up as Fuyuhiko was ready.

The white haired moth sighed and brushed some moth scales off the back of the long black coat, trying to follow Fuyuhiko’s guidelines about how to place his wings carefully to make it look more stylish and not bury the back of the clothing in scales. The tuxedo was his, so the lucky thief was trying to keep it in the best state.

Now as for distracting the crowd, during the meeting Nagito first proposed he humiliates himself in a splendid manner so everyone would be too busy mocking him, the idea was immediately scrapped by the others. Instead, Fuyuhiko gave him brutal dance lessons so he would put on a show for the crowd.

He still planned to humiliate himself however. He had no confidence in his dancing.

Or so he prepared until he entered the main hall and Kazuichi remarked:

“Oh, Inspector Hajime’s here.”

It took a matter of milliseconds for the insect to register the information, stand up as straight as he could, and sweep the area with his gaze until he saw just what he was looking for.

Hajime in all of his glory, probably also undercover, in a tuxedo with a blue coat and a white shirt that were  _ way too tight _ on the bat’s muscular but still somewhat thin figure, making a lot of others stare at his  _ very _ prominent _asset,_ with a black tie and white fingerless gloves.

There went Nagito’s plan, as he positively refused to pass for a complete fool before the most handsome creature he had ever seen. Which meant he had to dance. He didn’t need to linger a single second on who he was going to dance with, staring in awe at the crossbreed, in disbelief of the unbelievable fortune that one of his fantasies was about to be coming true.

“Hey Kazuichi, tell Nagito to wipe off his fucking drool.”

“Nagito, stop being thirsty and  _ focus!” _

He was snapped back to reality by the others, and he took out a handkerchief to clean the saliva leaking out of his mouth. The pink shark seemed to have noticed something else as he breathed out a very long and annoyed sigh. “Kokichi’s there too…”

The moth crossed his arms and sighed as well, he could hear Fuyuhiko do the same. He didn’t bother looking for him, he wasn’t going to let the rat ruin his mood.

Speaking of which, he cleared his throat and started walking in Hajime’s direction-

And then a girl excitedly asked the brunette for a dance, which he hesitated before accepting.

That’ll teach the insect to take his time. He heard the two other thieves chuckle through the com. Mid laughter, Kazuichi mocked. “Hey if you’re that needy for a dance with a cop there’s still the rat aro-”

“And I’d rather die a meaningless death!” Nagito smiled back.

So he just waited, he glanced over the room and more importantly, the crown hanging on the wall behind a golden throne, with on said throne, Angie Yonaga. Looking over the crowd and enjoying the music. She was almost bouncing like a child in the chair, such an innocent attitude for a criminal. But not like he was one to lecture others about that.

He leaned on a wall to subtly stare at Hajime from across the room, waiting for the end of the dance. Sadly, he was too far to be able to see the brunette’s expression. insects had great peripheral vision, but distance was another thing. Which reminded him, while he was disguised, would he be able to fool Hajime’s nose? As a hybrid canine, his sense of scent was inherently above most other species, and his training as a cop made it even sharper. However, even the best trained dogs would lose their targets when they were distracted by a lot of other scents. With the sheer number of invitees, his nose must already be cramped. Before coming here, Fuyuhiko practically bathed the moth in perfume, hopefully that will also do the trick, and in case of emergencies, the lepidoptera could cramp the wolf’s nose even further with scales.

The brunette seemed to have experience in dancing, probably refined during other incognito operations like this one, but his steps were sometimes a bit awkward, this clearly was not his usual element. He did hone his skills but that doesn’t miraculously cured embarrassment, especially someone as serious and stuck up as Hajime No Fun Allowed Hinata. The white haired teen chuckled at the thought, it was a bit of an exaggeration, and he was able to slide the guard down once in a while, but this clearly was not that type of situation for him. The insect followed the walls to get closer, to get a better look at the Inspector’s face. He was trying his best to shut down conversations as smoothly as possible with his dance partner, making it sound awkwardly cute, only pushing the other to engage in a talk to see the brunette’s cracks in his armor of seriousness. An understandable feeling.

"Nagito, _your drool."_

"Oh, my apologies."

Watching the other in such an alien setting trying to handle it, was making him overly looking forward to his dance, an excitement which was quickly killed by the fact that first: Hajime needed to accept his offer, and second, Nagito needed to be "more subtle" so he wouldn’t be recognized in half a second. He could try and manage that, just had to suppress every single comment about luck, self deprecation, any reference to him being a thief or Hajime being a police officer.

That was going to be harder than he thought.

The song came to an end, the girl seemed to want to keep talking but Hajime seemed to be trying really hard to escape the situation, searching for an excuse to leave.

Might as well give him that excuse.

The moth walked over to him, feeling his belly twisting on itself as he got closer and cleared his throat to attract the bat’s attention. The brunette looked at him, and the white haired incognito thief presented his hand.

“If that’s not too much to ask, may I have this next dance?” Trying his best to sound suave.

Jumping on the opportunity to flee the awkwardness, Hajime exclaimed. “Sure!” And placed his hand on Nagito’s, prompting an internal freak out from the latter that he suppressed with a perfect smiling poker face. The wolf waved his previous dance partner goodbye, sighing in relief as he put his hand on the other’s hip, in position to dance, which prompted a second internal freak out. After the long sigh, he breathed out: “Thanks…”

His first reflex would’ve been to start drooling over the good luck he had in this moment to hear those words, but instead, he said a more normal reply: “No problem.”

Then they started to dance. The moth naturally took the leading role, as the one who asked for the dance in the first place. The brunette didn’t seem to have a problem with that, and he mainly fixated on the mouvements of his feet, looking down on the floor to get into the rhythm and match the other’s timing.

While the officer was distracted by what was happening on the ground, the thief let himself melt into the vision of having the other so close, in blissful ignorance without a hint of an angry furrow or a shock pistol pointed at the other. His soft features, his piercing reticule like eyes, his weirdly endearing spiky hair, the insect’s gaze eventually dropped to his lips. He kissed them before, forever engrained the texture and warmth in his mind. He licked his own lips. What would he give to do it again? What misfortune would befall him to get this lucky?

The next step of the dance was a slight dip, the movement finally made the brunette’s eyes take off from the floor. He took a good look at his dance partner, the symbol in his eyes twisting like a reticule analysing a target, measuring the other up and down. A chill ran down the insect’s spine and his feelers twitched. He could feel that Hajime was making some connections inside his head, even in disguise, the lepidoptera was quite unique looking.

Nagito squeezed the crossbreed's fingers as he lifted him back up, appreciating the warmth when a realization washed over him.

This was a blissful, fleeting moment, where they stood next to each other, not as cops and robbers, but two individuals having a good time together. No chasing, no crimes, no law enforcing, just peace.

An ephemeral dream where their status didn’t matter, where they just could be themselves together. Something Nagito could only fantasize about, as fate decided to grant him the blessing of the existence and the meeting of his ideal someone, that ideal someone exceeding all of his expectations, in exchange for the misfortune of them standing on opposite sides of the law, forever at conflict.

The brunette started staring at the ground again as the insect’s stare persisted on the other’s face. Will they ever see eye to eye? He wondered.

He could feel the song slowly reaching its climax, coming to an end. Ending enchanted time with it, a boat passing the night, a passing reverie that could only last so long to resume their game of cat and mouse. Kazuichi murmured in the device that the crowd needed to be distracted with one big act, just the time Fuyuhiko could grab the crown.

Getting the hint, he prepared for another dip, but of course, with his luck and inexperience, he tripped on Hajime’s foot and was about to hit the ground as he slipped past the brunette. The wolf had sharp reflexes however, and caught the other teen just before he slammed against the floor, technically still pulling a dip, but deeper and with the roles reversed. Faces ridiculously close.

The crowd around seemed to be in awe of the crossbreed’s amazing save and applauded. The sound of clapping was drowned by the sound of the heartbeat ringing in the thief’s ears.

Embarrassed from suddenly being the center of attention, Hajime's wolf ears retracted on themselves like those of a shy puppy, he blushed and while pulling the other up, leaned into his ear and whispered with a shy smile and a laugh: “Sorry about that.”

And with that, Nagito’s whole heart burned down.

He knew right then and there that, no matter how big the cliff was in between them, he would never get his heart back. The brunette had stolen it and was going to keep it forever and ever. How ironic, in the Ultimate Thief’s view, the Inspector was the greatest robber of them all.

Maybe they’ll never see eye to eye, maybe their relationship will never go farther than a legal chase, he knew that, and the thought sunk a bittersweet feeling inside his stomach, but he’ll never give up. One day, they could be together again like this and forget about everything else. He had no idea how, he _didn’t care_ how, he didn’t care what he would have to exchange for it, he just wanted to have this wish, this selfish wish of this selfless thief, to be granted.

Just once in his life, he wanted to steal something for himself. Something  _ so much _ _more_ significant than a crown, pages of a book, machine parts, or any treasures on earth.

Hajime’s fingers slid off his own, so did his warmth, as the brunette walked away from the center of the crowd's attention. Nagito watched him disappear in between the other attendees, and made a quick exit for himself, walking down the fancy corridor of the mansion.

He could start to hear agitated voices, claiming the disappearance of the crown from the main hall. The noises bounced off his ears as his thoughts were filled with daydreams, strolling to the exit with a lovestruck grin as panic started to rise around him.

Even through the com, the two other thieves had already started to yell victory cries. Nagito was perfectly quiet as he took out the Ultimate's calling card out of one of his pockets, and watched it fly in the corridor as he opened the main door, the card floating deeper into the mansion, carried by the wind seeping in from the outside.

Once outside, all he could hear was the sound of his heartbeat, and his brain replaying the brunette’s voice in his head over and over again like a broken record. However, he won’t ask Kazuichi to fix this one. Ever.

* * *

Something hit the back of Hajime’s head as he watched panic start to rise at the sudden absence of Monokuma’s Crown.

He passed his hand through his hair and caught a piece of paper.

The Ultimate’s calling card, he carefully opened it to reveal the message:

_ We have taken our leave with the Monster’s Crown. _

_ And I shall leave with one more great memory of you. My deepest appreciation for blessing me with this dance.  _

_ Until we see each other again; _

_ Sincerely yours;The Ultimate Lucky Student _

Hajime dragged out a long drawn out sigh as he slid his hand along his crimson tainted face.

He let out a self deprecating laugh as he felt his tail wag.

“I knew it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't design suits alright? Has much as I might have a thing for those I'm not great at detailling them esjknhvdfsk  
> SO this chapter took me a while to write and that's an understatment. So much walls of text.  
> I wanted to just _put that good ol bittersweet feeling that our bois are known to stab us with._ In the original DR, despair and talentlessness didn't stop Nagito from being infatuated with Hajime even beyond the virtual grave, so being on opposites sides is _nothing._ Also I fucking live for that shit.  
> Another thing I adore about those two, Nagito, even with his wishes of becoming hope and his view on the talentless being miserable, still loved Hajime. Even beyond the mentionned virtual grave he still gave a shit and _pined hard._ I'm so glad they get a happy ending in hope side. I really do. DR3 was worth it just for this episode and 2.5. Fight me. I could infodumb about how much I love 2.5 for days.  
> BUT I AINT HERE FOR DEBATES AO3 AINT FOR ANALYSIS, so yeah, dancing cliché. Oldest one in the books and one of the best. I hope you enjoyed this fleeting moment, and me trying to sound poetic as our local gay disaster pines. Thank you for reading!


	4. Nagito and the gang in: The Wet Smell of the Sewer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now on the trail of the Monouma Heart, the thieves are infiltrating the lab of Miu Iruma.  
> However, a nasty scent of distrust starts pouring out of the cracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long to write this, uni being uni kicked my ass and kept me busy, also personal projects getting in the way.

After taking away the crown and making their escape, the police showed up, Hajime blew his cover and had another field day, making arrests left and right.

He managed to get his hands on most of the criminals here, including Angie Yonaga, however, another Remnant who was there made their escape. None other than the group’s local inventor, Miu Iruma. She was now in hiding, somewhere deep in the jungle.

It took the Ultimates some Hajime style detective work, as well as asking Kokichi for more information, but they managed to find her. She somehow successfully transformed an old temple into a laboratory filled with her latest inventions.

The thick jungle kept them from driving their truck through, and made them walk all the way to their target. With a few snags along the way, pitfalls, traps and quick sand, they eventually reached their destination.

On their way, they also made some discoveries. It wasn’t just Miu Iruma’s hideout, it was the home of her own part of the Big Bang Monokuma, Monokuma’s Heart. A massive pump and battery so strong it powered all of her inventions and the lab all by itself. Great for her genius, awful for everyone else.

Nagito hoped she didn’t count on that heart too much, as tonight, it will come with them.

* * *

This operation turned out way more complicated than they thought.

The Inventor had the great idea of dividing the Heart into two parts, one being the pump, staying in the center of the temple, and the other, the battery, stayed on her person.

There was complex machinery everywhere on the field. It was a vacation for machine lover Kazuichi, incredibly annoying for Fuyuhiko’s brawn, and hell for easily distracted by light Nagito.

They had to make numerous little operations to manage to get close to their objective. Stealing blueprints from her office, and planting a bug in said office… Then she hid deep inside the laboratory and they had to lure her out by causing explosions left and right, flooding part of the temple with water from a river above. This perfectly manipulated her into getting the pump part of the Heart and placing it on her person as well as she was fleeing, basically bringing the Heart right to the band of thieves for the taking. This made the blonde alligator especially happy, as he really didn’t want to have gone around with bombs in his hands all over the place for nothing.

And they also met Constable Kokichi on the way. That ruined Kazuichi’s machine holiday.

However he was useful, as he provided a route for the thieves to plant the bombs to lure the Remnant out. He was still being extremely unpleasant, poking fun of the moth’s affections for his superior. The quote: “You were drooling all over him back at the ball! Wow! How desperate are you?” ended with a laugh, especially stood out.

After this distasteful encounter and explosions, Miu fled with the Heart. Alas, she did so in one of her new mech armor, making the project of stealing the engine directly from her a lot more difficult.

The rat decided it was a good occasion to show up however, as Fuyuhiko and Nagito were contemplating their next course of action while watching Miu trying to make her way above her flooded lab.

“Well well! You sure get jobs done!” He clapped as he strolled towards the two thieves.

Fuyuhiko clicked his tongue. “We’re not fucking amateurs, once we do something we get it done.”

“Yeah yeah, anyways, I have a plan for you.” The purpled haired teen pointed to some kind of pit, borderline an arena carved in the ground. There were walls built around it, so the pit was only slightly flooded by the water. “See that? It just so happens that that armored bitch over there _loves_ to put her inventions against each other, and built this little arena! Push her in, beat her there, and steal the stuff!”

Nagito observed the pit. “And how are we supposed to get out of here?”

“You can fly can you not?”

The lepidoptera pointed out the obvious. _“I_ can. Not Fuyuhiko.”

The rat handwaved. “I’ll throw you a rope to climb, I’m not that stupid.” He turned his back to them. “Now try and keep up!” He declared as he started jumping left and right to the pit.

The white haired teen subtly whispered to his scaled comrade. “I don’t trust him. After you beat her, I’ll try and fly you out by myself.” He then pursued the constable across the wet ruins.

Fuyuhiko seriously doubted Nagito’s abilities in terms of strength, but he will rely on the weak frame of his companion rather than the rat’s promises.

The white haired thief still had a bit of dynamite after the bombing operation, and counted on blowing it up on the Inventor’s armor to push her into the pit. This wasn’t so hard, getting close to the clunky machine was child’s play as its mouvement was powerful, but slow. Lighting the baton of dynamite and sliding it beneath the protection’s arm took a few seconds, and Miu Iruma flew right into the pit while yelling a very derogatory curse.

The moth sighed as he looked down at the machine struggling in the water of the crater. “Now we can j-”

He was interrupted as he felt his feelers acting up, signaling an imminent danger. Before he could jump away or turn around, something struck him in the back of the head. In the next instant, he was unconscious, and fell into the pit along with Iruma.

“Nagito! Shit!” Cursed Fuyuhiko as he hurried and jumped in the hole.

Through the com, Kazuichi, who was hidden on high ground in the jungle observing to give support, stated the obvious. “Oh that’s bad, oh this is _really_ bad!”

The alligator ran to the fallen thief, but he was interrupted by what looked like a forcefield. Separating him from Nagito’s part of the arena.

A laugh echoed behind Fuyuhiko. “Fucking idiots! You really think I’m going to go down that easily!? At least buy me dinner first!” It was Iruma, itching for a fight within the confined forcefield, mechanical arms emerged from her back, ready to make her move.

“The only dinner you’re gonna get is my knuckle sandwich, bitch!” Spat out Fuyuhiko.

It then turned into an all out brawl. However, too bad, for Iruma, the yakuza was in his element. He was at ease in the water, and the explosion caused by Nagito’s dynamite had already damaged some parts of Iruma's suit. Even with the hyper powerful pump and battery inside the engine, it struggled to keep up. Actually, the output started to wear down on the machine as the fight went on, the circuits wearing themselves out and burning under the overload of electricity.

The fight quickly came to an end as each and every punch of the small blonde was stripping parts and parts away from the rude girl inside, until it was only her. She didn’t last long either, as she fainted in the water and her own bodily fluids before the thief could land the final hit on her.

The forcefield disappeared and the Heart rolled out of the machine’s core, broken on the ground. Fuyuhiko was more preoccupied by his fellow thief, still unconscious.

He picked him up and checked on his wounds. It wasn’t too bad, and he has seen worst, but he was still hurt.

He heard a chuckle from above the arena, it belonged to none other than Kokichi.

“There they are Queen! Just as I promised. Two of the Ultimates and Miu Iruma in one neat package!” Gestured the rat to the two trapped thieves and the knocked out inventor.

Behind him, a black haired spider girl with two twin tails, red eyes and gothic lolita aesthetic chuckled. “Excellent work Constable Ouma. Inspector Hinata never managed to get this far.”

Speaking of the devil, Hajime was with them too. He wasn’t looking pleased at all however, and was staring at Fuyuhiko holding Nagito’s unconscious from with a worried look. “B-but-”

“Really Inspector.” Continued the “Queen”. “Admit defeat. You are clearly outclassed.” She smiled.

Kokichi smiled as well. “Actually Miss Ludenberg… There’s a reason why he never managed to catch them.” The smile widened. Deforming and twisting his face. “He’s been in league with them the whole time!”

Caught off guard, Hajime looked shocked before shaking his head and accusingly pointing at the rat. “No that’s wrong! Why would I do that!? Where’s your proof!?”

The constable searched in his pocket, he pulled out a photograph he waved under the brunette’s noise before he handed it over to Ludenberg. _“This_ is a picture of the Inspector dancing with Nagito Komaeda over there the night the Monokuma Crown was stolen!”

The wolf was wide eyed for a second before defending himself, baring his fangs. “But _I didn’t know_ it was him! I was undercover and trying to mesh with the crowd and it just so happened that-”

Observing the picture, Ludenberg threw a question at him. “You two seem definitely very familiar with each other. And do you have any evidence more tangible than this picture to prove your claim?”

The crossbreed clenched his teeth and fist, looking to the side and swallowing hard in anger. “No... I don’t...”

She snapped her fingers. “Men, take Inspector Hinata away as well as the thieves and the Remnant.”

Still in the pit, the blonde stared at Kokichi. “Double crossing bitch… We were right to not trust you!”

The rat simply replied by sticking his toungue out and making a "L" for Loser sign like a child.

In the thief's arms, the insect was still unconscious, which was maybe for the better, as he would’ve probably snapped at the scenery before him.

Other officers appeared and cuffed Hajime. With teeth still clenched, he hissed at Kokichi, fuming in anger, his eyes glowing with an eerie light. _“Don’t think this is over._ ** _I’ll get you._** _I hope you know how to sleep with one eye open.”_

After this threat, the bat was taken away, with both Kokichi and the spider smiling at their victory.

Deep in the jungle, Kazuichi watched everything unfold, powerless, his friends taken away, with only him left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Miu is a bunny. I thought that being something originally cute but being so loud and… being Miu was a funny contrast. Also bunnies… ya know… let’s say... “reproduces” a lot. I thought it went great with Miu’s very, VERY dirty mind.  
> Also ofc Celeste is a spider. It's perfect! Queen of Liars trapping you in her web.  
> I hope you enjoyed!


	5. Kazuichi saves the day in: Clickety Cocoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alone against an entire jail, Kazuichi must rescue his freinds by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the feeling my writing is getting clunky.  
> I dunno i had that feeling while writing this out, I'm trying to keep a good quality I swear! jkdshufdisk

The poor pink shark was left behind in the harsh jungle. He hopelessly watched his two thief comrades and the Inspector being taken away in chains and cuffs.

The horrible feeling of uselessness sunk in his stomach. As he sliced through the exotic forest all by himself, no curse from Fuyuhiko, no weird compliments from Nagito…

Indeed, he felt lonely. A lone wolf, or shark, going through the forest. “Wolf”, reminded him of the Inspector. He felt bad for roping him into this as well. The Ultimates were under the threat of being arrested ever since their first heist, but Hajime was truly innocent. “Lone wolf”. Hajime seemed to be working alone as well.

This made Kazuichi clench his fist, he already felt a kinship with the fellow, but now he truly felt a mutual understanding, a deep bond, a soul friend!

However, the time for one sided bromance was over as he managed to go back to the van and opened the door to the front seat.

And he realized he needed to drive all the way without Nagito or Fuyuhiko to give him pats on the back when he felt like puking. This was going to be a terrible road trip.

* * *

Doing the detective work alone was terrible as well. He barely managed to get enough information and scramble a weak plan together.

The rest of the Ultimates were being held in a prison under the cruel rule of the “Queen of Liars”, Celestia Ludenberg. She started as a gambler that gathered money through her ruthless poker face, and it was where she earned her nickname.

She then married a wealthy man, but weirdly, said man died quickly after the wedding from an accident. Some kind of hit on the head, instant death.

With her even bigger wealth, she built a castle in Europe, as well as building an entire prison, where Nagito and Fuyuhiko were held captive, and joined Interpol where she became a warden. More precisely, where she kicked out the previous warden Ryota Mitarai, and proceeded to use (steal) his technique of Hypnotherapy on the prisoners. 

However, while Mitarai’s therapy was very effective, it was also healthy, required consent from the inmate to be used on them and had specific timing to be used to not exhaust the patient.

While the Queen seemed to prefer using it on whoever she wanted whenever she wanted however she wanted.

This rang red alarms in Kazuichi’s head, no doubt she is going to use her “rehabilitation” on his friends very quickly. If that happens, he’ll be out his two best friends and his newfound soul friend.

But there’s no way he was going to let that happen, even if he has to go alone.

* * *

The more his scouting went on, the worst it got.

He managed to overhear a conversation between Celestia Ludenberg and an hypnotised inmate.

Not only it was brutal and hard to watch, the poor fellow having their eyes forced open to watch some kind of video, but the Queen was actively making the inmate spill out about their treasures. Not just confess their crimes, but reveal what they had stolen, as well as where they kept it. She would then send forces there to retrieve the treasure and make her fortune grow.

Not only was it an insult to law enforcements, but thieves as well. The missing trio would get so offended by this. The pink shark was very much angry as well, he wished he could send a bunch of mechas on her smug face, however that wouldn’t be very subtle. And the priority of this mission was to save the others.

He clenched his teeth and focused on the primary objective. Lots of guard avoiding and hacking later, he finally managed to get to the first part of the bigger plan.

Operation Dung Beetle: Freeing Nagito from his underground prison.

Obviously, because Nagito can fly, he has been trapped in a cell underground. The only way out was in a hole in the yard. A special cell for special inmates. If the moth was here, he would say something along the lines of: “I’m so blessed! A lowly thief like me getting special treatment!” or would he be offended, especially after what happened: “How can such a lowly scoundrel like me get special treatment when my comrade and Hajime suffer!?”

Saying this out loud while piloting a remote mini-copter to cover the area, Kazuichi came to the conclusion: “Man... Loneliness is turning me insane! How does Hajime handle that stuff?”

“I’m sure he has his own ways!”

The pink shark basically jumped up around 2 meters (maybe a record for sharks) with a girly scream worthy of a horror movie, before turning around to see quite the shocking sight.

“N-Nagito!? How!? I’m sure you were just-”

The moth waved his hand. “I escaped.”

“You what!?”

The insect shrugged. “I waited until my jailer fell asleep, then I slipped my hand out to steal the keys. I was lucky he was so close to the door when he dozed off though. Good luck has repaid me!”

The mechanic looked back and forth at Nagito and the feedback of the camera on his tiny helicopter. He didn’t even notice Nagito slipping out and strolling right up to his hiding spot. Since when did he get that good he wondered.

Did that mean… That Nagito could’ve gotten out without his help?

Kazuichi sighed.”I should’ve known… Your luck is so insane you only nee-”

“Oh right.” Nagito lifted up a finger in realization. “There was a blue electric door on the way to get my spear. I’m sure it was supposed to be locked, but I could open it no problem! If it wasn’t for that I would’ve been screwed!”

The mechanic could recall hacking the blue level of security while making his way up the tower he was standing on right now.

He smiled. Learning hacking has been very useful after all.

* * *

After getting rid of a few issues, like pickpocketing keys from the Queen, and destroying her giant attack robot (yes, she had a giant attack robot that looked like a water tower), decrypting the Queen’s encryption algorithm, they could move on to freeing Fuyuhiko.

They had to cut short the power supply, as well as making Nagito sneak into a vent leading to Fuyuhiko’s cell, to tell him to get thrown in solitary confinement, as there was a weakness in those types of cells to exploit.

What they didn’t expect was for him to have already been thrown in there. So his violent tendencies were on their sides for once.

Now they could go onto the part Kazuichi has been waiting for with much excitement. He called this plan: The Trojan Tank.

And so, using the Queen’s keys, they stole one of the tanks in her possession right outside of her jail. And proceeded to drive it casually right back into the establishment without any suspicions. After all, all of the guards already had their hands full dealing with Nagito’s escape. The pink shark was extremely excited to say the least. The moth could hear his gasps and sighs of joy, and said moth was underneath the tank in hiding, waiting for his opportunity to slip out and go to free Fuyuhiko.

“You ready for this!?” The pink mechanic had his finger trembling above the firing button of the tank.

“As I’ll ever be!”

The shark let out an excited laugh. “This is the highlight of my life!” He then smashed the button, prompting the tank to fire right at the security gates of the building containing the solitary confinement cells.

With an explosion, the doors were blasted off and Nagito applauded. “Good job! However I have one question. Doesn’t that give away our position and makes us an easy target?”

The pink shark let out a huff. “Oh come on, behind that door is another soundproof door, no one inside heard anything! Also this place had a freaking giant robot! I’m sure explosions happen every two days! Also you’ve beaten the crap of enough guards that there’s no one to take care of it!”

The white haired teen only chuckled as he thought of the countless unconscious victims of his spear.

“Now get inside! I’ll be right behind you!”

“Alright.” The lepidoptera jumped out from hiding and ran into the building.

The shark opened the tank to leave, but not without caressing the machine and letting out a sob. “We might have not spent long together… But I’ll never forget you!”

Over the com, Nagito said in a completely serious manner: “Is that how you say goodbye to your exes?”

“Oh fuck you!” He crawled out of the machine and ran behind the moth. “Is that how you say goodbye to Hajime!?”

Ahead and opening the soundproof door, the insect shrugged. “Like this situation would manage to happen in our circumstances!”

“Don’t jinx yourself man!”

“I already do that by living.”

“Ah. True.”

“I thought it was the cliché part where you are supposed to disagree.”

They then parted ways so the white haired thief could deactivate another layer of security using Kazuichi’s algorithm, and the pink shark would go through the gate Nagito opened and hack it to keep it that way.

Once inside another layer, they were right next to the solitary confinement cells. One of them had Fuyuhiko inside… banging his head against a wall.

“Huh… that’s not normal.” Concluded Kazuichi.

The pale thief brought his hand to his chin. “I wonder. Maybe Celestia Ludenberg is already using hypnosis on him.”

“Oh shit right!” The mechanic pulled out a tiny terminal from his pocket. “Let’s see… to deactivate the hypnosis we’ll just have to destroy the hypno-boxes around the cells.”

“Hypno-boxes?”

“Hey I don’t make the names alright!?”

They once again split up, the moth stabbing the monitors the old fashioned way, while the pink thief was hacking them. Everytime they would put those out of commision, the trapped alligator would say something completely ridiculous, like something about being a teapot. They were totally going to make fun of him with this later, but the operation came first.

After enough breaking around, Fuyuhiko seemed to have finally snapped and broke down the door in one strike. He let out a curse and noticed the two other thieves.

“Finally! Dammit you bastards do you know how great it is to have someone mess with your head!?” The blonde screamed as he made his way up to them.

Nagito shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it pleasant personally.”

Kazuichi pointed at the moth. “Seriously how much stuff happened to you!?”

From behind them, more precisely behind the bars to another part of the prison, they heard a voice.

“What is up with all that _goddamn forsaken noise-”_ Then appeared the Queen, who quickly changed her tone once the thieves came into her view. “Oh my. It seems we have escapees! How annoying. Oh well, We’ll catch you once again soon enough.” She then just left without letting the other thieves even answer.

“Hey you bitch! Get back here!” The blonde alligator was already grasping at the bars to rip them out.

Kazuichi put his hand on his shoulder. “Dude chill! We need to escape first, we’ll take care of her later! 

Nagito nodded. “She’s still holding Hajime captive in her castle after all. We’ll have to deal with her again.”

“Yeah!” The shark continued. “She probably stole the Heart too…”

“Actually…” Murmured the blonde in anticipation. “I got half of it right there!” He then pulled the machine out of his pocket. “I’m a pro at escaping body checks, they’ll have to try harder next time!”

“Nice!” The mechanic gave his friend a thumbs up. “Now, time to make a break for it!”

* * *

The gang was reunited, thanks to Kazuichi’s efforts, so obviously, they celebrated on the ride out of town. They even had to pull over twice because they were laughing so hard from telling each other their own little adventures, and accessorily because the way Nagito was wheezing made them think he was going to run out of air.

And the best part for the mechanic, Nagito had managed to steal some parts of the giant robot and the tank at the jail, and both him and Fuyuhiko handed it over to Kazuichi as a thank you gift.

While tweaking with his in advance best birthday gift ever, they made their way towards their next destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew I feel like that chapter was hard to write. I feel like it's only going to get tougher from here too...  
> Although writing the bro banter between the three of them was fun. And I kicked off the Hajime Kazuichi bromance! Can't go without that. Don't worry Fuyuhiko itll be your turn someday  
> Also I can't believe I forgot to mention that all this time, but I kinda converted Nagito's hope obsession with his mothy distracted by light thing (IT'S SYMBOLIC). Tho he's still Nagito HOPE IS AWESOME Komaeda


	6. Nagito and the gang in: A Bat Out of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the trail of The Queen, they followed her back to her gothic castle, where Hajime was trapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn I wrote that one pretty fast. Huh. I'm kinda proud!

It was time for another rescue and some payback.

The Queen had escaped from her prison, and was now in hiding at her castle estate. It was a well fortified gothic nightmare that any thief would run in terror from.

But nightmare or not, that’s where Hajime was trapped, so that’s where they were headed.

Now with the full team, they could be more effective in their background investigation. Turned out that Celestia Ludenberg was a hidden member of the Remnants, and she was in possession of Monokuma’s Eye. In Nagito’s Ultimatus Codex, in the pages he got back from Junko Enoshima, the eye was described as a whirlpool of despair, trapping anyone who dared to stare in its direction. It didn’t take a lot of brainwork to figure out what an accomplished hypnotist could do with this artefact.

Even worse, news of the Queen’s corruption spread to interpol, and Constable Kokichi, being the closest to the case, got a cash allowance for him to hire local mercenaries to attack the estate head-on.

The Ultimates were walking into a full scale war, but if that was what it took to save the Inspector and get a part of Monokuma, they wouldn’t hesitate. They needed to act now, before they got caught between the crossfire, to never walk out of it.

* * *

Kazuichi maybe wanted Nagito to investigate the mercenaries’ tanks on stand-by, but he would rather be cleared of them. As much of as he was a lowly thief and distracted by lights, he didn’t want to _become_ a light at the tip of a canon. Maybe at one point in his youth he would’ve rightfully accepted that fate, but not today. Hajime and the Eye came first.

Speaking of which… during his scouting, he came to the “re-education” tower, and finally found Hajime… strapped to a table with a massive hypno-box turning above him, the Queen looming over him, observing her experiment.

Nagito could only watch from above, behind bars that lead to another room.

The brunette writhed against his shackles and resisted the hypnosis. “I- I didn’t do anything-! Kokichi- Kokichi set me up! I’m an honest cop!”

The spider girl, with only two legs in sight, walked around the table and waved her hand. “Of course, I read your psychological profile. I know you're honest.”

“Th-then-” He gasped, struggling against the hypnosis. “Why!?”

“Oh dear… That’s _because_ you are honest.” With one of her fingers, the one with some kind of ring that fully covered it, she touched the Inspector’s chin and forced him to look at her. “In your pursuit of the Ultimates, you have learned too much. It was only a matter of time before you hunted us down as well. And I hate to admit it, but you are good at your job.”

He bared his fangs, eyes twitching between anger and despair. “You’re- a disgrace! I’ll destroy you! You and all your gang!”

“Oh I won’t let you try. You are maybe a nuisance…” She danced her finger across his face, taunting him. “But you can be useful, you have lots of qualities we don’t have.” She opened his mouth to reveal his fangs. “I would love to try and use that forceful voice of yours for my hypnosis… I heard quite a lot about your screeching screams. And I’m sure other members will have a lot of fun toying with you…”

The bat clenched his teeth. “I… I won’t be brainwashed so easily… I’ll…”

“You can try. It is always fun to watch your opponent struggle as they sink.”

She let go of him and walked back to the commands of the hypno-box.

“Kazuichi.” Murmured the moth.

The pink shark swallowed. “Yes..?”

Nagito hit his spear in his mechanical hand. “I want to make her taste despair.”

“Nagito I’m worried about you.”

The more he watched Hajime writhe, his eyes full of rage and despair, the harder the moth clutched his spear.

“Look Nagito, I wanna save him too but there’s nothing we can do now… But we’ll save him I swear! I won’t let my soul friend rot here!”

“... Soul friend?"

“Huh…”

“Kazuichi. To use your own terms, I called dibs-”

“No! No! I said “ **FRIEND** ”! Don’t stab me please!”

* * *

The conflict between Kokichi and the Queen had put the castle on high alert, to successfully save Hajime and get the eye, they needed to manipulate the conflict to their advantage.

To do so, they gave a literal scare to Kokichi’s forces by disguising themselves as the Queen’s forces and pretending to do rounds around their territory, convincing Kokichi to buy more mercenary forces.

For Nagito’s joy, Kazuichi blew up the main battery of the “Mind-Shuffler” in the basement, the enhanced hypno-box machine torturing Hajime. In said Mind-Shuffler was also the Monokuma Eye. Celestia Ludenberg was truly an awful woman for having fun in the irony of using the machine Hajime destroyed against him.

Nagito also installed a voice modulator under Kokichi’s HQ, to eventually manipulate his mercenaries, and said overly enthusiastic mercenaries, who were getting excited at getting new forces and might have attacked before the Ultimates were ready, were calmed down after Kazuichi had once again the time of his life by going to town on them in another one of the Queen’s tanks.

The time for the war was drawing nearer.

Operation: Insecticide was planned out:

After deactivating the spotlights on the castle, using the voice modulator, they would order the mercenaries to attack using Kokichi’s voice. Then Nagito will fly himself and Kazuichi over to the re-education tower, with all of the guards drawn out of their post by the assault, they will be able to free Inspector Hajime, who will no doubt clear out the Queen with no trouble. The Ultimates were widely aware of how effective the brunette’s wrath was at making criminals flee for their freedom.

Then, the Monokuma Eye will be theirs.

* * *

“Now then Kazuichi. Are you ready to free our angry little prince?” Asked Nagito, both thieves being at the same spot the moth was before when he found Hajime, the pink shark tweaking with a monitor which contained the command to free the crossbreed.

“Just a second…” The monitor let out a beeping noise. “There we go!”

On the other side of the bars, Hajime’s restraints opened. And he didn’t waste any time picking up his shock pistol from a table in the room and pointing it at Ludenberg, who just noticed his escape.

The wolf slowly walked over to the spider. “Oh, I have been _waiting_ for this.” A grin formed on his face, he licked his fangs in anticipation.

“Nagito, no thirsty comments.”

“I wasn’t-”

“Yes you were.”

Ludenberg tripped up her own laughter and started to walk to the exit, still looking at Hajime. “So you’ve managed to escape… I should've expected it.”

He bared his fangs and his ears were pulled back. “The only thing you are gonna expect is my _wrath.”_

“Nagito.”

“I didn’t even-”

Hajime raised a finger in realization and grinned. "Oh I just remembered! You wanted to use my voice right? Then how about you get a little sample!?" The brunette then took a deep breath.

The white moth poked the shark’s shoulder. “Kazuichi, the ear plugs!”

“Oh shit!"

The both of them pulled out said ear plugs, and Nagito also put soundproof textile around his feelers.

Finally pushed to his anger breaking point, Hajime proceeded to let out a scream, halfway between a howl and a screech. It was enough to make the whole room shake. The Queen ran away, with Hajime in high pursuit of her, shooting at her with his gun and talking to her with his ultrasonic voice, causing a massive ruckus as he hunted the spider like a prey.

Once he was far enough, the thieves took out their ear plugs, still feeling their inside sway to the leftover noise.

Kazuichi's legs were still shaking “He’s so fucking scary man…”

“I find it endearing!”

“But _you_ are weird!”

Nagito shrugged. “But you have to admit, it is great to watch him go!”

The shark was silent for a second. “Ok, I admit it was super cool.”

Over the com, Fuyuhiko hissed. “Stop fanboying and get to work dumbasses!”

“Right!” They said in unison.

The white haired moth deployed his wings and flew to the Mind-Shuffler, hitting it with his spear, making the engine let go of the Monokuma Eye.

Kazuichi walked over to it to pick it up;

But some kind of claw grabbed it first, and the hook-like claw flew back to its owner.

“Wha-!?” Exclaimed the shark.

“Nee-ee-ee! Thanks for clearing out the Queen!”

Nagito didn’t even need to look to recognize who that was. “Kokichi!”

The rat taunted the thieves by wagging his tail. On his hand was a black claw holding the eye. “How do you like it? I call this, the Exiclaw! Now bye losers!” The rat then quickly made his escape.

The moth clenched his teeth. “Kazuichi, escape without me, I’m going after him!”

As the insect ran after the purple haired traitor, the mechanic left behind could only yell: “But this wasn’t part of the plan!”

* * *

Now how ironic.

“Well. Looks like the rat was caught in its _web_ of lies!” Mocked Nagito.

Kokichi, trapped in a thick spider web, struggled as the Eye rolled out of his crasp. “You little- Don’t you dare!”

The thief casually strolled to the eye like a boy going to school for the first time and picked it up. “You should watch where you are going next time. What an amateur mistake for an experienced traitor like yourself!”

However, before he had time to answer, something was already ripping the web off the roof and throwing it away, the rat still on it and screaming like a girl as he soared in the night sky.

“Now then Mister thief. I would want _my eye back.”_

Nagito held out his hand as a sign for the newcomer to calm down. “Now now, this is not the tone I expected from a lady.”

Celestia Ludenberg, emerging from the shadows, seemed to have none of it, as from beneath her dress, hideous spider legs slowly revealed itself, lifting her up in the air as her tone lifted up as well. “I don’t want to hear any opinion you have of a lady! You lowly filthy rotten insect thief!”

“I won’t deny I am a lowly thief, but you are just as much of an insect as me.” He said while pointing to her legs.

She clenched her teeth , she raised her finger in anger as she slowly approached Nagito, her massive limbs hitting the rooftop with a creepy sound. “I’m going to _trap you, tear you apart, eat you up,_ use your fluff _to make myself a new pashmina_ and place your wings _in my room as a trophee!”_

Seemed like she _really_ hated insects. Nagito shrugged. “The only one I’ll let eat me is Hajime!”

Speaking of which, where was he?

“Out of my way!” Nagito heard in that angry angelic voice. One look into the streets revealed the brunette fighting off some other bat guards, the crossbreed showing off his fighting skills on them, taking them on alone with style and without a scratch. After a quick kick, he caught one of the guard’s heads between his legs during a jump, blinding them.

Nagito internally accused the guard of having stolen some of his good luck.

The brunette then flexed said guard into the ground in one swoop, their head hitting the floor with a painful noise.

Nagito winced. Bad luck was always waiting around the corner isn’t it?

The Queen didn’t appreciate him getting distracted however, and jumped straight at him. With a swift dodge, their fight had started.

On one hand, Ludenberg clearly did not know how to fight properly, it was child’s play to get hits on her. However, thanks to her webs, she could pull the moth closer to her and keep him from flying too far away. She also took full advantage of Nagito’s biggest weaknesses, massive lights. She would activate a light on the roof to distract the other insect for a few seconds, enough to for her to struck with her massive limbs.

By the end of the fight, Nagito was exhausted. Spiders were the apex insect predator of others of its kind, and he truly felt that. And this was against a girl that did not know how to properly handle a head to head battle.

He sighed. The plan had gone off rails enough already, he needed to get to the rendez-vous point with the Eye and quick, before the place started to become even more of a war zone.

* * *

It was a long and hard battle, but the Eye was now safe in the Ultimates’ hands.

The Queen was arrested for her crimes by Kokichi of all people, and to save their image of having someone in their own ranks work for the enemy, Interpol promoted the rat to captain. The traitor was now bearing the same shiny star badge that Hajime had around his collar. At least Ryota Mitarai was hired back as warden, hypnotherapy and the prisoners were in good hands.

The brunette was still under suspicion of treachery, and couldn’t go back to them. So, for Nagito’s greatest joy and eternal delight, he helped his favorite policeman escape from the cops.

After that quick help, the crossbreed gave one last word to the Ultimates before swiftly disappearing into the night:

“Thanks for the rescue. You guys are maybe thieves, but you’ve got some good in you. And I can at least respect that.”

They had to lay low for a while after that, but that didn’t stop Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi from rolling their eyes at their friend’s lovestruck trance for days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Celeste was maybe a spider, and was recognizable as such, but that doesn’t mean she liked being an insect! I felt like her hiding her spider legs was like her hiding her true identity.  
> Also, I want to add the fact they have animal parts more, but tbh, first off not mentioning a lot sells more the fact it's normal in this world, second only Hajime has ears in the main cast so I can’t mention it every two lines, for the others it’s not stuff that are useful all the time like scales, wings or the aileron. But i’ll try to talk about it more. Also, I need to make use of Nagito's moth wing patterns one day!  
> Also I gave Kokichi an Exisal claw. Ya know exactly why.  
> And have some Hajime "NO THATS WRONG" voice. Also I was thinking of doing another little one shot of Nagito and Hajime meeting for the first time, so I can expose his backstory and have a little meet cute. I dunno if I should tho...


	7. Nagito and the gang in: Cold Shoulder Warm Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tracking down the parts belonging to the Great Gozu in Canada, they encounter the Inspector, who is going through quite a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I evaluated that it will take now around 3 more chapters to finish this series but I'm not sure. So take it with a grain of salt. Edit: In the same day I realise it would only be one chapter. Damn i'm supid.  
> Also, picture Nagito with a freaking crown of moth fluff around his neck. I kinda pictured him with insect fluff folded down at the base of his neck, and then it puffs up in the cold, like a makeshift scarf. I thought it was stylish, and a nice detail. Same for Hajime has bats have fur around the neck.

The thieves followed the trail of the Remnants' black market deals, and ended up in the cold snow of Canada, right at the shipment empire of the Great Gozu.

This bull was a celebrity wrestler for a good part of his life, but one day, he decided to move on to the biggest opponent of all: nature.

And being the one to take care of the Remnants' shipments onboard of a massive train, seemed to go along his one man war against mother nature.

The thieves didn’t know if they should feel sorry or not, as he probably didn’t even have any idea about all the wrongs he was causing, overlooking his evil deeds to “defeat his ultimate opponent”. The Ultimates didn’t even know what he was doing with Monokuma’s parts, but they were about to find out.

* * *

The Great Gozu possessed Monokuma’s “Intestines”. They were not _ really _ intestines, but it was the nickname to refer to the monster’s insides. After all, the machine did practically become a living creature once Junko took control of it. The bull had strapped the parts onto the engines of his different trains, allowing them to run all night and day.

The plan was easy, taking pictures of Guzu’s plans of the train tracks, finding and entering the trains, and stealing the parts.

However, the second part of the project had a major snag when Hajime decided to show up. Not just show up, but sneak up on Fuyuhiko who was doing his scouting, and trapping him in an improvised prison.

Nagito received the transmission of a panicked Kazuichi, ordering him to free the blonde before going any further with the plan.

The moth simply tracked the bat from above, as the brunette would have to eventually go check on his prisoner. Hajime was maybe harsh and salty,  _ very salty, _ but he wasn’t heartless.

Before the prison, Hajime knocked on the bars. “You ok in there?”

“Oh doing fucking  _ great.” _ Hissed Fuyuhiko. He could’ve normally broken out by himself, but alligators weren’t exactly great in the harsh cold, and the brunette took the time to lock the bars thoroughly.

The brunette shrugged. “Should’ve known.”

The blonde hit the ground. “You’re more of a douchebag than I thought! We helped you and this is what you do for us in return!?”

“I don’t enjoy it either!!” Yelled the brunette back with a hint of ultrasonic tone, shutting the other up. He clenched his fist. “I don’t want to do this! I feel like an ingrate! You rescued me and I captured you! Of course I don’t want to do this!” He took a deep breath, clenching his teeth along his hand. “But… I  _ need  _ to do this!”

The yakuza put his back against the wall. “Why?”

“Because if I don’t prove my innocence- Everything-  **Everything** I worked so far for is ruined!” He stared right into the other’s eye. “Do you know how hard I worked to get where I am!? This stupid rat robbed  _ everything _ from me with his false accusation! My job, my status, my honor, my reputation, my home…”

The brunette’s ears sunk down, he looked away and slid his hand against his face, trying to calm down. Fuyuhiko said nothing back. He knew all too well the feeling of having his entire life destroyed by the actions of a single person.

The brunette turned back to Fuyuhiko. “I’m… I’m sorry for doing this, but catching you guys and proving I am not working with you is the only way I have to get my life back. You guys can live on as criminals, but I can’t. I’m an honest cop, and I want to get back at that stupid rat for doing this to me. So… I’m sorry.”

With those words, the crossbreed walked away.

Fuyuhiko stayed silent. He was furious before but now, he quickly realized he was the last person in the world able to blame someone for hunting down people to build back his life. After all, not only was he a thief, but a yakuza. His family’s empire was built on crime done on the backs of others. And again, the Inspector was being honest, he was bringing them to justice, not killing them or chopping their fingers off.

Now Fuyuhiko felt like a massive hypocrite for calling him out.

Nagito hopped off his hiding spot in front of his comrade. He heard the entire discussion as well, and felt a similar way as Fuyuhiko. They accidentally brought Hajime into this mess. And the moth knew he was the one to specifically blame, as he was the one that decided to dance with Hajime that night, that was what brought the so called evidence of his corruption. Bad luck after good luck.

But nonetheless, the brunette blamed Captain Kokichi for throwing his life down the drain, he didn’t seem to hold anything back against the thieves themselves.

In silence, Nagito started worming his way through the locks Hajime put, they were mostly modified versions of handcuff locks, it was probably improvised.

As he released Fuyuhiko, they both thought the same thing, they needed to apologize to Hajime eventually, or find a way to make up for it.

* * *

The lepidoptera readjusted his insect fluff around his neck, which practically poofed out once they stepped foot on the cold environnement, as he observed the top of the train he was standing on. Two parts were now with them, Nagito was now on the third train, the "Iron Bull 3" for the final engine.

Things were going smoothly, but in Nagito’s life, things going smoothly were only the cue for an imminent disaster.

His feelers acted up, and he jumped off the roof into a connection between two wagons. This was the right decision, as he heard gunfire rain down on the spot he just was.

“Damn! I was  _ so close.” _

Just hearing that voice made the thief want to groan.

Above was some kind of high tech hang-glider, the purpled hair traitor at the commands. “Come on  _ oouuuuttt~ _ , I’ve got a new toy to play with! Come  _ oooon~” _

“How about _no.”_ Smiled Nagito.

Kokichi huffed. “You’re just as much of a killjoy as that puppy.”

This graciously reminded the moth that the rat above him was the one responsible for throwing all of Hajime’s hard work down the drain. He leaned into his communication device. “Kazuichi, we have a rat in our sewers. Would you please gaz it out?”

He could hear the shark crack his knuckles. However the sound was muffled by the thick coat and gloves he had on. “I already sent my little copter. Time for some _deratization!”_

Nagito chuckled. “While you distract it, I’m going to go on with my business.”

“Sure, good luck!”

* * *

Watching Kokichi fly away in a ball of fire and the last part of the intestines under the thieves' arm was very satisfying. _This is for Hajime_ they thought as Kazuichi high fived his comrades.

They didn’t confront the Great Gozu directly, but they still managed to take down his shipments operations along with his trains.

With Kokichi not far, it was only a matter of time before the police force showed up. Once again, Hajime had to flee his previous comrades, but also once again, the Ultimates went out of their way to help him, to his greatest disbelief.

As the moth showed him the way to escape, the crossbreed looked clearly guilty. While keeping a safe distance, the white haired teen just spoke his mind. “Don’t feel so bad. We know your situation, we don’t blame you for going after us.”

“But-”

Nagito interrupted him. “Yes, it might look ingrate. But this is a peculiar situation to say the least. Also, we are the last people in the world that can blame you, we are, after all, lowly criminals!”

Running ahead, Kazuichi yelled. “Hey don’t call us that!”

This seemed to have cheered the brunette up a bit at least. “Come on. I’m not busting myself for three “lowly” criminals. I already told you that right?” There was the hint of an honest smile. “Want me to do good on my promise and put you down?”

The insect was maybe enchanted by the tiniest show of joy coming from Hajime but he was less happy about the idea of getting it with a shot of his shock pistol. “No thank you!”

He heard Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko chuckle ahead.

The white haired thief was going to miss those moments, all four of them joking around like old friends. He looked at the wolf’s neck, his shiny star badge bouncing with his steps. He really didn’t want the brunette to lose his job, not only the crossbreed deserved to have the life he worked hard for back, but also Nagito, and the others, would not have it any other way than Hajime pursuing them. He’s a massive part of why heists were so fun. They will need to find a way to clear his name, without turning themselves in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was free angst time! Thank you thank you ill be here every saturday  
> The Bros Quartet is now underway woohoo! I want all four of them to bond together, since Fuyu and Kazy are basically Nagito's family here, and Nagito would _really_ want to include Hajime in that family, so i really want their bond to feel tangible.  
> Also about the free angst, I wanted to expand on the original series about how it would feel. With the little prequel one shot I made its clear Hajime is fully dedicated to the work, so something like this happening to him would leave him really pissed. I wanted to add that in, more emotions and all ya know?  
> Sorry for boring you with my talk, I hope you anjoyed!


	8. Nagito and the gang in: Ephemeral Fuel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle against the Remnants was upon the Ultimates. But unexpected twists happen after unexpected twists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to have kept you waiting! I swear I’ll make it up to you guys!  
> Also, I hope you enjoy the surprise made by @_Spaghetti4U on Twitter and Spaghetti4U on Tumblr! (GO CHECK THEM OUT)

Things were bad.

As all of the thieves were sitting in the middle of the battery being carried up in the air, they all felt it:

Failure.

They were supposed to steal the Monokuma Paws from the Great Gozu, and while they managed to defeat him this time, they let their guard down, and were led right into a trap. A trap that kept them busy long enough for the boss of the Remnants to steal their parts from their left behind van.

When they came back, everything was gone. All of their hard work, taken away. One step closer to Hajime’s situation of having their work dashed to pieces in a single day.

But they won’t bite the dust so easily. They shifted on the offensive, they learned the boss was in a massive blimp in the air, and that the Great Gozu had planned a battery to be carried up there. So, they hid in it, and waited to be carried right up to their target.

But there was still the bitter taste of defeat resting on their tongues. Nagito was twitchy, awaiting something to fall flat on their face again, Fuyuhiko was trying to keep his calm; swallowing defeat in silence, Kazuichi took it the worst, he was leaving his trusty van behind. Hopefully, he could go back to get it, but there was no guarantee, and he knew that.

After hours of flying in the darkness and letting the situation sink in, Nagito finally had the courage to speak, and all of them could finally talk about their unknowing host.

Haiji Towa. The older brother of Monaca Towa. However, he would rather not be reminded of that. His past was somewhat blurry, but he was the heir of the prestigious Towa industry. “Was” being the key word, as he got shoved aside by his father when his sister Monaca showed greater talent at a much younger age.

Like his sister who used her branch for nefarious deeds, he too put his mind to nefarious machines. He was quickly hired by the Remnants to become their chief engineer, and climbed up the ranks. He was probably the one behind modifying the Monokuma parts to use them for his group’s crimes. In a way, he was doing what he always did, riding on his sister’s success by using the parts she created herself to upgrade Junko Enoshima for his own needs.

With all of the parts in his hands, disaster was going to befall the Ultimates soon. An even greater one than what they just lived.

And they needed to put an end to this madness once and for all.

* * *

The Big Bang Monokuma, rebuilt, was stuck to the ground by Nagito reversing the force of the magnets holding it in place. He thought it would tear it apart, but maybe Haiji Towa foresaw that move.

Well, at least he said so, as he and Kokichi of all people entered the room the Monokuma was stored in as Nagito thought of a new course of action.

“Ah!” Exclaimed the lizard Towa. “Did you take me for a fool!? You really thought a magnet trick was enough? You guys are even more stupid than I thought.”

The rat chuckled. “I said that to them so much you have no idea.”

The moth brought his hand to his chin. “Oh I see what was your plan. You wanted to get the parts from the other members, so you waited until the Ultimates got their hands on them before taking them from us. Kokichi was there to keep both an eye on us and Inspector Hajime. All the while without raising any suspicion.”

The rat shrugged. “You make it sound easy! I had to carry your sorry asses through those heists. I was so happy when I got the Ok to throw you guys and the puppy in jail and I could get it done myself. Didn’t go exactly to plan but it still worked!”

“Work? Right.” Nagito crossed his arms “But you can’t make the Big Bang Monokuma work.”

Towa sighed. “Yeah right, hey trick question, what did Enoshima use to keep herself alive for so long? That dumb crap despair. Pulling that big bear together was dead easy, but getting that shit for her Despair Chip was a whole other story.”

Kokichi nudged at Towa. “And that’s when I had a great idea! Create despair, a despair born right out of watching your whole life crumbling down...”

Dots connected inside Nagito’s head.

“You didn’t-”

“BINGO!” The rodent exclaimed. “Not only did that get the Inspector out of my hair, but destroying the puppy’s little life and sucking all of that despair out thanks to the Queen’s engine mind thingy killed two bears in one stone! _Nee-ee-ee_ get it?”

Nagito clutched his spear.

“Also I just adore the irony. The woman you _despise,_ brought back but the guy you _love so much!_ That’s just _awesome!”_

Towa chuckled. “And I had to admit, it _was_ an awesome plan!”

The moth clenched his teeth. He couldn’t recall the last time he felt the need to do that out of anger. They were exploited, Hajime was exploited the most, all to make despair.

The lizard sighed in relief. “Now that the Monokuma is complete-”

However, he didn’t get to finish that sentence, as the rat hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out. “Yeah shut up extra. Didn’t you learn? The final boss always sucks if they’re introduced only at the end! So sorry, liar once, liar always! If I double crossed others I can double cross you!” He laughed. “So long sucker!”

The moth, who was quite far away on a platform above them next to the commands, tried to fly off in Kokichi’s direction before he did the unthinkable.

The rat rushed into the skeleton of the Monokuma. As it closed behind him, the machine roared to life, a shockwave pushing Nagito away.

Laughter roared from the machine. “Yes! It’s mine now! I’m the new boss around here!”

The engine clicked as it got up, it walked and destroyed the wall, leaving the machine walking on the blimp’s deck.. And to Nagito’s surprise, some kind of metallic wings popped out of the monster’s back, and the machine took flight. Leaving the white haired thief behind, completely baffled.

“That… That just happened.”

* * *

Kokichi was now free to do whatever he wanted once inside the Big Bang Monokuma. If nothing was done, he would inherit Enoshima’s eternal life from Hajime’s despair. However, that was also its weakness. It needed his despair, and that was stored in the blimp, forcing Kokichi to hang around it the time it either fully “downloaded” into him, or he actually needed to stay around it to keep his strength. So the thieves explored and wreaked havoc, destroying the centers of energy around the blimp.

However, that didn’t give them the solution on how they could shoot down Kokichi. But an unexpected guest contacted them.

None other than Hajime, coming in with a helicopter, understanding the dire situation, decided to team up with the other thieves to take down Kokichi. They could all recall the terrifying undertone of his voice, twitching at the idea of getting revenge. One of the thieves will hop on with him on the machine, and engage in a dogfight with Kokichi. For obvious reasons, Nagito was selected. Not only was he eager, but as the only one who could fly, it was safer if the helicopter were to be shot down.

The plan in mind, it was time for a showdown.

* * *

Hands on the commands, the brunette drove the engine next to Nagito. “Ok, I don’t need any of your chit chat right now, just hop in and gun down that sucker!”

The moth chuckled. “It’s not just chit chat, it’s a very important moment for me that we get to exchange w-”

Hajime groaned. _“This_ is what I mean! Just hurry inside!”

The moth hopped in and grabbed the huge shock pistol placed in the back of the helicopter. “That’s… a big gun.”

The brunette chuckled. “Made it myself! I call it the Hacking Gun ShotDown! You can go crazy with it, already built a tinier version for myself.”

The moth admired his handiwork. “You can pilot, and build machines… You possess many skills!”

“Those aren’t skills, they’re the results of hard work!” He sounded very proud. “I need to distract myself when I’m bored somehow.”

“See?” Nagito smiled. “We still had our chit chat!”

Realizing he had been tricked, the bat gripped the commands as he sighed with a blush.

Kokichi noticed them, dived towards them, with a single push of the gun’s trigger, the massive bear twitched and went off course, passing under the helicopter.

“How do you like that!?” Yelled Hajime. “You’re maybe a big chunk of metal, but you still have circuits! How does it feel to get hit right in the network!?”

“You… seem to be enjoying this very much Hajime.” Observed the moth as he tried to aim towards Kokichi again.

The brunette twisted the commands to get a better look at the monster of metal. “For me, revenge is a dish best served _burning hot!”_

The white haired insect laughed. “I think the only thing burning hot here is you, in my humble opinion!”

The shoot out went better than expected thanks to the crossbreed’s maneuvers and powerful gun. Kokichi quickly lost control, and dove headfirst into the blimp, going straight through its center, causing explosions along the way and destroying the flying fortress, and reappearing from the other side of the broken blimp.

Through the com, Kazuichi breathed out. “Huh… Guys I think we pissed him off!”

Fuyuhiko continued. “But he just destroyed his own resource of despair fuel with that crash! He won’t stay in flight for too long!”

“That’s what _you_ think!” 

After staying silent the entire fight, the rat inside the monster decided it was time to speak up. The beast of metal soared up in the air. There was beeping noise echoing, and some parts of the Monokuma shifted, transforming like some kind of mecha, parts of it didn’t look like a bear anymore. More like a suit of armor, with claws similar to the one Kokichi called the Exiclaw. It still kept a glowing red eye, and the metallic wings.

Afterwards, it dove at tremendous speed towards the helicopter, and before Nagito could shoot, the massive pile of metal destroyed the engine as it crashed into it.

The moth managed to save himself with a jump and flying, and he looked around to confirm the brunette’s safety. There wasn’t the Inspector in sight, he started panicking and Kazuichi yelled in the com.

“Shit! Nagito look down!”

He did as he was told, and he perceived bits and pieces of the blimp falling down, and most notably, Kokichi in between them, holding Hajime in one of his claws. The traitor laughed. “I don’t need some stupid generator if I got him! I’ll milk the despair out of him and become invincible!”

Nagito clenched his teeth and quickly flew in pursuit of him, but leaned into his communication device. “Guys, are you ok!?” After all, the whole blimp blew up, he was worried about his comrades as well.

“We’re fine!” Confirmed Kazuichi. “I whipped up a quick flying machine from the battery in case this would happen! Just focus on Kokichi! Don’t let him take Hajime away- if he uses him and becomes immortal we’re screwed!”

The moth dove down, and also jumped from platform to platform, hunting down Kokichi.

“Damn you’re resilient!” Spat out the metal mass.

Nagito clicked his tongue. “Why are you even doing this!?”

“To survive! In this world you have to be strong and smart to live! How do you think you survived all those heists!? Luck isn’t enough to get you through life! To exist, you need to be a _liar!_ To hide beneath _a layer of deceit!”_

The thief mocked: “You say that while getting your energy from an honest cop!”

Kokichi groaned. “You know what I’m gonna do with your honest cop? Maybe I’ll kill all of you in front of him! Now that is _guaranteed_ fuel for me!”

The machine was fast, but using the falling parts, the thief could gain speed with a well placed jump, or hid behind them to protect himself from the wind getting in the way.

He eventually landed on one of the monster’s wings. Now that he was at close quarter, he was ready to, in Fuyuhiko’s language: “beat the shit out of him”.

The traitor laughed. “Oh? Want a piece of me!?”

Nagito laughed. “I already saw enough of those.”

Seemed like Kokichi didn’t appreciate the response, as a hatch on his body opened and tiny Monokumas flew out . The moth quickly disposed of them however thanks to his spear.

“Good try.” He sarcastically breathed.

“Yeah I tried.” The mass of metal said in a suspiciously calm voice. “So how about I pick an easier target?” Kokichi clutched the brunette inside his claw.

A trickle of sweat ran down the insect’s neck. “Don’t bluff. You need him for your fuel.” The lepidoptera slowly walked on the wing, closer towards the traitor’s “head”, or whatever had the Monokuma Eye on it.

“Yeah I need him right.” He chuckled. “But I think removing one or two limbs wouldn’t hurt!”

Nagito started running, alarms ringing in his head. Kokichi seemed to have predicted it as a claw flew out and crashed into the thief, he blocked with his spear, but he was stuck in place by the pressure.

Laughter kept ringing from the engine. “You’re _so_ easy to bait! Stop thinking with your lower brain for a bit! Now enjoy getting crushed!”

He used all his strength to hold on beneath the mass of metal, but strength was never his forte. He could feel his feet slip on the metal and his arms trembling, he knew he wouldn’t hold out for long.

Until something hit the claw, blowing it off Nagito.

“Take that bastard!” The moth heard through the com. 

“Damnit!” Yelled Kokichi. “Shut up extras!” He then sent out electrical shots towards the sky. Nagito quickly lost the shots from view, but he heard a scream from his com.

“Guys!”

The transmission was buggy, but he could hear Kazuichi scream. “ _Oh fuck-_ Fuyuhiko! Nagito, don’t mind us, just take care of him quickly before it gets worse!”

“R-right!” His comrades gave him an opportunity, he rushed to the Eye and hit with his spear.

The weapon was repelled on contact.

“Ah!” Mocked Kokichi. “It ain’t that easy sucker!”

Then a blast of electricity hit the machine right in the head.

“Yeah it really isn’t, isn’t it bitch?!” None other than Inspector Hajime who was still trapped in the claw, holding his shock pistol who was fuming from the shot.

The insect didn’t waste any time, and just like they did before in their first fight against the Big Bang Monokuma, the thief plunged his spear into the eye.

This set off explosions all over the machine, and it quickly started to dive down. The moth jumped off the falling machine, and noticed the brunette falling down as well, one of his wings appearing to be broken from Kokichi’s abuse.

He caught the Inspector mid-air, feeling him in his arms reassuring the moth, he was right there, alive and well and not used as a battery. Nagito made their way to the ground, which seemed to be somewhere in Paris. The blimp must’ve been traveling while they were doing their heists.

The moth also noticed a broken engine, besides what remained of the Big Bang Monokuma. He recalled his comrade’s screams, let go of Hajime and hurried towards it.

Meanwhile, Hajime recovered, and was searching through the parts of the remains of the Monokuma, and he pulled out a chip.

The brunette felt it while he was being drained in the monster’s claw. The Despair Chip, where all of his despair was gathered, this is why the parts of Monokuma never broke, this was keeping them alive.

He threw the chip to the ground, lifted his leg, and crushed it.

Just like that, it was over. The parts rusted right before his eyes, as if time finally caught up with them. With this, Enoshima would never rise up again to terrify the world, The Ultimates, Nagito, or his descendants.

But now that the action was over, it was back to playing cops and robbers. He walked towards where he saw Nagito run, shock pistol in hand.

Inside a broken machine were the three thieves, Nagito, Kazuichi, and a terribly injured Fuyuhiko. Blood pouring out of the right side of his face. This immediately made him lower his gun. Noticing him, the moth got up and interposed himself, and gave a proposal.

He offered to go peacefully, in exchange of letting his friends walk away.

* * *

With the alligator on his back, Kazuichi walked away in the distance as the brunette cuffed Nagito. It wasn’t long before the police arrived, seeing that the crossbreed had the criminal under custody, his name was quickly cleared.

Hajime pushed Nagito inside a helicopter as one of his superior handed him a promotion with a new shiny badge. The brunette stared in awe with stars in his eyes and a tail wagging.

The bat exchanged the medal on his collar for the new one, barely containing his joy. Nagito smiled. It was the least he could do for him after everything that happened.

The brunette hopped in with Nagito in the vehicule. And the ride to HQ started with them sitting in silence. Letting the reality of the situation sink in.

The white haired teen thought about his friends. They needed some serious time off, it was a good time for a break from thief work. they had wounds to tend, not just physical one it would seem as well.

Meanwhile, the wolf was still playing with his new badge, maybe still having a hard time realizing that his time as a fugitive was over.

After a while, both of them began to relax, and they got to talking. It started with exchange about their adventure, even comparing notes and remarks. The conversation subject started swaying a bit to everything, hobbies, tastes, Nagito wondered if this was what a first date was like.

Hajime noticed however that the ride seemed to be taking a bit too long. A fact the moth had noticed a long time ago after seeing the Eiffel Tower out the window about a hundred times.

Hajime checked on the pilot, to only see duct tape holding the commands. Seemed like Ultimates left Nagito a going away present. Getting rid of the cuffs he had unlocked a long time ago, the moth started running to the exit. 

He waved Hajime goodbye. “See ya Hajime, it was lovely spending time with you.” And he jumped off the helicopter

While he soared in the air, he could faintly make out Hajime’s voice.

“Don’t think this is over! I’ll find you Nagito, you can count on that!”

The Ultimate Lucky Student didn’t doubt that in the slightest, and was looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi’s machine was basically a fusion between an Exisal and the Big Bang Monokuma btw jdfhbdjw  
> Also, sorry I hope you liked that illustration! It’s a commission, and it was made by a friend of mine @_Spaghetti4U on Twitter and Spaghetti4U on Tumblr, they are awesome and deserve your attention! I love the piece so much and it was worth the wait in my opinion.  
> And I want to add I have already written all of the chapters of the next series, so I’ll update it once per day. I hope you look forward to it!


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